UK-based International Terminal Solutions Ltd (ITS) is helping APM Terminals (APMT) increase productivity of its container handling operations at Rotterdam with its latest G-POS GPS tracking system.
APMT uses the COSMOS terminal operating system (TOS) to manage its terminal operations at Rotterdam. ITS’ system for straddle carriers, GPS Lite, is a Real Time Location System (RTLS) incorporating GPS technology that connects to the existing Radio Data Terminal (RDT) on each carrier and is fully compliant with COSMOS interface specifications.
Richard Lambert, managing director of ITS, told GreenPort: “The system automatically identifies where the containers are dropped in the yard and automatically reports this to the TOS. This automated data capture effectively equates to drivers spending less time going round the terminal looking for misplaced containers when they need to be moved on to the next stage.”
“We developed container tracking systems in the mid-80s when we saw a need for them with increasing container volumes. The larger container terminals have a larger throughput and it’s quite common to misplace containers, so by making it easier to identify the actual container locations, terminals reduce unproductive operation time and become more efficient, which also means less equipment operational time. Consequently, less fuel is used and therefore greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are also reduced.”
At Rotterdam, APMT operates 13 Post Panamax cranes, a barge crane and a fleet of straddle carriers. The terminal has 2,250 reefer connections on 100 hectares of land and 1,600m of quay wall with an annual capacity of 3.25 million teu.
ITS’ G-POS systems can provide a range of accuracy from 2cm up to 0.7m and with various types of differential GPS (DGPS) correction methods used. As well as straddle carriers, it can be embedded into rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTG), rail mounted gantry cranes (RMG), reach stackers, empty handler or tractor units.
